Biden, McConnell discuss fiscal cliff deal

Dec. 31, 2012
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Vice President Biden / Jacquelyn Martin, AP

by David Jackson, USA TODAY

by David Jackson, USA TODAY

As they have in previous budget disputes, Vice President Biden and top Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell are working on a last-minute fiscal cliff deal.

McConnell and Biden "continued their discussion late into the evening (Sunday) and will continue to work toward a solution," said McConnell spokesman Don Stewart, pledging "more information as it becomes available."

The two spoke by phone twice early Monday, at 12:45 a.m. and again at 6:30 a.m.

Midnight is the deadline for the White House and Congress before the onset of the automatic tax hikes and budget cuts known as the fiscal cliff.

The parties are trying to reach a debt reduction plan that would avoid the cliff, but cannot agree on a precise combination of tax increases and spending cuts.

McConnell said Sunday he called Biden "to see if he could help jump-start negotiations on his side." The Republican leader noted that he and Biden have worked well together during previous budget battles, including the 2011 stand-off over the debt ceiling.

Even if the Democratic-run Senate strikes a deal, the Republican-run House must sign off before it can be sent to President Obama and signed into law. Both chambers plan to meet Monday, with hopes of voting on some kind of agreement.

The stakes include more than $500 billion in 2013 tax increases that begin to take effect Tuesday, as well as $109 billion in defense and domestic program cuts in the weeks ahead.

Lawmakers are also searching for a plan to begin reducing a national debt that now exceeds $16 trillion.

If Congress is unable to forge its own plan, Obama said he would then push for a vote on a pared-down proposal that includes a renewal of unemployment insurance and an extension of the George W. Bush tax cuts for middle-class Americans who make less than $250,000 a year.